Missed
by Axrat
Summary: Sequel to Abused. Riku is sent off on a mission to Warfang alone, and doesn't return. He's proclaimed dead by King Mickey, his father, Roxas and even Sora. But wait... what's Riku doing in Ivalice, alive? And what happens when Leera shows her face?
1. The war in Warfang

Author's notes: Yup, it's the sequel to 'Abused', well, read and enjoy. Yes, this is post-KH2 and pre-FF12 but there's a bit of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon in the beginning couple of chapters of it. My suggestion, if you don't know what any of the characters look like, go on Google Images and look up their names rather than have me try (and fail) to describe them.

**Missed**

"So, the radios actually communicate between the worlds? Cool." Sora looked at the gold walkie-talkie device in his hands. His name had been etched into the back of it. His older brother, Riku, and his Nobody, Roxas, had similar ones, only Roxas's was blue and Riku's was black. Color-coding for the three different Keybearers. Sora represented the Light, Roxas the Twilit, Twilight or Betwixt; all the terms were used equally, and Riku the Darkness. Three and a king to rule beside. Roxas, being a Nobody, had to either be the Twilight, or die. They had figured out that fate had created Roxas for a reason. When it had, Riku was still in the Darkness.

The silver-haired man that was Sora and Riku's father nodded, his eyes, the same color as his younger son's, revealed his amusement.

"You can thank Cid for developing them later; this will make your individual missions easier. No more pacing for days on end waiting for them to return, _Sora._"

Sora laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. Riku raised an eyebrow at him.

"Riku, you can get just as bad."

"No, Sora's worse." Roxas corrected him. "Riku just doesn't talk for several days, Sora is downright annoying."

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed. Roxas glanced over at him.

"It's true."

"Is not!"

"QUIET."

Everyone jumped and looked at Sora and Riku's father.

"Thank you, carrying on will get you three nowhere. You have to be a unity, that's why your hearts were connected. No 'I' in team."

"But there is a 'me' in team. Oh, there's also an 'I' in unity." Riku said in a smart-alek tone.

"Shut it, smart-ass." Roxas hissed.

"BOYS!"

Everyone shut up again.

"Look, my point is that you'll be able to keep in contact when you're on separate missions, rather than just talking while on the same one. Anyway, Riku, this is yours." He handed Riku a familiar black folder – Riku's mission files. "You're going to a place called Warfang – apparently the Dark Forces are gathering there. You're to talk to them and discover their motives. Apparently they're setting loose a creature called the Destroyer – it creates worlds by destroying the one it's on."

"Espionage for the Light? Easy enough."

"That's not the end of it," his father interrupted, "in this world there are strange creatures we haven't even seen before; humanoid, bipedal cats, bipedal moles, other weird creatures of the Dark and most importantly, I know of six dragons fighting on the Light. They are Ignitus, Volteer, Cyril, Terrador, and most importantly, Spyro and Cynder. The first four are the dragon Guardians, Ignitus is fire, Volteer is lightning, Cyril is ice and Terrador is earth. Spyro will be the easiest to spot, well… kind of." He paused. "He's a young purple dragon, accompanied by a yellow dragon fly and a dark purple, near black she-dragon, Cynder. The one fighting for the Dark is, I believe a larger purple dragon. His name is Malefor, they call him the Dark Master."

"Oh he'll learn who the Dark Master really is." Riku growled.

"I suspect that you'll turn into a dragon upon entry in this world. You'll be larger than Spyro and Cynder, I suspect, but no where near the size of a full-grown dragon. Be careful, though, my son; this war has been going on for years."

Riku nodded. "Of course, father. I'll come back." He assured him. Then he turned to Sora and Roxas. "See you two soon." He said before turning and leaving through a portal that opened in front of him; an ability he had recently recovered. The portal closed and the radios sounded with static.

"_Radio check." _

"Radio check."

"Radio check."

"_Cool, seems like the system works. We'll have to thank Cid, 'ey? I think I've spotted Spyro and Cynder… shit, there are sure a lot of Dark Forces here. I've got a headache already; and not from the noise. WHOA SHIT." _

"What's up?" Sora asked.

"_Me. I'm __**flying**__. Actually flying… this'll take a bit to get used to-OOO… note, must flap wings." _

Sora, his father, and Roxas's palms all became acquainted with their faces at the same time.

Riku was both having a mid-air panic attack and a party all at once. He was a black dragon hatchling, a bit larger than the purple and the near-black ones he had seen on the walls of the fortress. His spikes and horns were sparkling silver, his wings matching them. The Heartless symbol was on his forehead, his black wristband around his neck as a choker. He guessed that his radio had been stored in it because he was transmitting to Sora and Roxas. The purple Amethyst in it was glowing slightly.

"_What's up?" _

"Me. I'm **flying**. Actually flying... This'll take a bit to get used to-OOO." He had stopped flapping for a moment and dropped several feet. "Note, must flap wings." He flapped and veered off to the left towards the fortress. He looked below him. There was a complete army of monsters, and large red stone siege towers. He landed on the stone and found himself facing the two other hatchlings, both were snarling at him. Riku lowered his head.

"I don't mean you any harm; I'm not one of Malefor's." He told them. The darker one, the she-dragon Cynder, smelt of Darkness. "I've come to assist you. I'm powerful in dark magics, but I am an entity in myself. I want to help you restore peace to your world."

"Oh, yeah, like we're really going to trust some black dragon with the weird marking on his forehead."

That was the first time Riku noticed the yellow dragonfly buzzing around the two hatchling's heads. He seemed to be a bit of a pessimist, Riku could tell that already.

"If you don't trust me, kill me." Riku shrugged as much as he could like this.

"Sparx, we should at least have Ignitus hear him out." Cynder suggested. "Yes, he does seem like a dragon of the dark but so was I."

"Yeah and you wonder why I don't trust you."

"Sparx." Spyro glared at the dragonfly.

"What?"

"Forget it. Fine, you can help us for now. Once we find Ignitus and the other guardians then you can explain yourself." Spyro decided, before turning towards a catapult.

"Sparx, if you really don't trust him, keep an eye on him." Cynder suggested, following Spyro. The two appeared to be messing with some stuff in a hatch under it, probably fixing it, before they returned. "Let's go, we've got to destroy that siege tower… er…"

"Riku." He replied. The other two nodded and ran towards a siege tower that was pressed against the wall. Riku went to run after them, but he only succeeded…

…In falling face-first.

"Oh look at this, he can't even walk." Sparx shook his head.

"Screw it, I'll fly." Riku muttered, flapping his wings so that he was just above the ground. He followed behind the others, landing near the siege tower. Some of the monsters were surrounding it. "Great. I want to know how Sora uses his Keyblade in his lion form." Riku muttered. He jumped in the air and snapped his tail suddenly, causing him to turn, but also smacking a monster in the face with its arrow-head tip. He swiped, with his fore claws, slicing another. He then bit into one and quickly spat it out, landing on the ground. "SHIT that tastes NASTY. BLEH." He tried to spit the taste out, failing miserably.

"You don't bite them!" Spyro rolled his eyes. He and Cynder were attacking a spot of grey spikes on the side of the tower that Riku hadn't noticed before. He decided to allow them to focus on that while he distracted the creatures. He continued to attack with his claws, horns and tail, but eventually found himself surrounded. He went to growl at them, but a strange scream emitted from his throat instead. He could see red sound waves pulsing through the air. Cynder and Spyro both looked over.

"Siren Scream." She muttered.

"Great. Just great." Sparx muttered.

Riku laughed, he couldn't help himself. The monsters were cowering in fear. He sliced some more until Spyro and Cynder finished destroying the tower.

They had to destroy three more towers before they were finished, then they had to defeat some weird golem-like creature at the main gates. When they killed that, the lock on the gates, which was pretty much lava, broke.

"Try re-lighting the torches, Spyro. Maybe that'll help. Me and Cynder will keep the door closed." Riku said, before unleashing a Siren Scream on the monsters that had gotten in. Cynder joined in with her own scream. A loud THUD rang out, and they both turned to the door, which had three bipedal moles trying to keep it closed. They pushed their weight against it, somehow keeping it closed against whatever was on the other side – battering ram, probably.

They didn't even notice when the lock filled with lava again. Riku dropped to all fours, Cynder doing the same.

"God, Sora, how the hell do you do this kind of stuff?" Riku muttered. He heard Sora laughing quietly.

"Riku, mind flying around the area?" Spyro asked him. "We need to see if there's anything else out there." Riku nodded, not going to question why one of them didn't. He flapped his wings and took off into the air. He flew around the city, watching the Dark Armies. What he didn't notice was the cannonball the catapult had sent barrelling towards him…

The last thing he remembered was landing in something wet, then falling a great distance.


	2. Trip to Ivalice, Awaken

Author's notes: The first part of this is in the Twilight Falls from the Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon, but after that it goes to Ivalice, so don't worry too much.

**Missed**

"Riku?" Sora sighed. Still nothing from the other end of the radio. He looked over at Roxas, who was sitting with Kairi, Tidus and Selphie, and shook his head.

They were all at school. When asked where Riku was they said it was a need to know basis, as they did with every mission. Sora sighed and sat down beside Roxas.

"It's been a month. He hasn't radioed in since the day he left." Roxas commented.

"Do you think…" Kairi didn't finish her sentence. Sora sighed.

"Maybe. It was bound to happen to one of us."

"So soon, though? You guys have only been official Keybearers for a year."

"The worlds can be very unpredictable places." Sora stood and walked off moments before the bell rang.

Another month passed and there was still no word from Riku. Sora and Roxas decided to go to Warfang and see if they could find him.

They ended up in an area shrouded in night. The trees and plants seemed a blue color in the pale moonlight, and there was a large waterfall nearby. Sora's pendant was around his neck, and Roxas's wristband was worn like a choker.

"This certainly isn't Warfang, but maybe there's something regarding Riku here." Roxas suggested. He had become a navy blue dragon, his spikes and wings a couple shades lighter. He looked over at Sora, who was golden with white spikes and wings. Both were hatchling sized. "Let's split up." He suggested. Sora nodded, and flapped his wings experimentally. He laughed, finding himself above the ground.

"Alright. Radio in if you find anything."

"Same to you." Roxas nodded. He flapped his wings and took off up the waterfall. Sora went down stream, searching for anything. He noticed a faint purple glow nearby. He glided towards it. On a tree branch was a black wristband, a faintly glowing amethyst on it. His heart strings twanged. The three never went _anywhere _without their armour, which was stored in the wristbands, or, in Sora's case, his pendant.

"Roxas…" Sora spoke.

"_What's up?" _Roxas's voice emitted from his pendant.

"I found Riku's wristband…"

"_I'm on my way." _

It didn't take long for Roxas to land beside Sora, who had grabbed the wristband with his tail. He showed it to his Nobody.

"It's definitely Riku's." He commented. Sora's head drooped. Roxas sighed, opening a portal. "Let's go, Sora."

The two left the Twilight Falls, reappearing in the lounge room at their home in the Destiny Isles. Riku's wristband was in Sora's hand.

"Sora? Are you okay?" Sam, Sora and Riku's older sister, stood from where she was sitting on the couch. Sam's hair was a silvery-light brown color, and her eyes matched Riku's. Her father looked over curiously. She put her hands on Sora's shoulders. "Look at me." Sora looked her in the eyes. Sam could see the tears in his eyes.

"I think Riku's dead." Sora held up the wristband. Sam took it, shocked. She turned to their father, who was just as shocked. She tossed the wristband to him. He looked it over and sighed.

"He'd never go anywhere without it, none of you would." He walked over to Sora, and took the crown pendant in his hand. He tapped the amethyst to the matching one on the right side of it. The wristband glowed, before it vanished. The amethyst on Sora's pendant stopped glowing, and he collapsed, crying. His father wrapped his arms around the Keyblade Master, lightly stroking his hair. "Shush, Sora. Shush."

* * *

Sora looked out over the cliff on the island, down at the water below. A tear rolled down his face as he watched the sun set. He now knew why Roxas had been so angry; he had lost Axel because of Sora and Riku. Sora fell to his knees and cried out in anguish. His cries could be heard on the mainland, he knew. Sora had come to the islands the day he found Riku's wristband, two weeks before.

And he had never gone back.

Sora returned to the shed, where he had been sleeping, for the night. A knock on the door got his attention, and he opened it. His father and Roxas were both there.

"Your presence is wanted in another world, Sora."

"Yippee." Sora rolled his eyes.

"Sora, this is important. This world is a large one and we need their support." Roxas commented. Sora sighed.

"If I must."

* * *

"You're awake."

The silver haired teen shot upright, instantly regretting it. He lay back down, his head landing on a soft pillow. He couldn't remember anything except his name; Riku. He didn't know who he was, who he knew, where he was from… nothing.

"Where am I?" He asked, looking at the healer who was leaning over him. "Do I know you?"

"You're in the Giza Plains, child, and no, you don't know me. Don't you remember anything?" She asked, brushing her short brown hair behind her ear. Riku shook his head.

"Nothing but my name."

"What is your name?"

"Riku."

"Ah. I'm Serina. You're lucky. The dry season only just started; parts of the plains flood during the wet and there are very nasty beasts that come out. We found you washed up here after the waters receded."

"Thank you…" Riku sighed and sat up. "I wish I knew who I was."

"We'll try and help you remember. Maybe we could take you into Rabanastre tomorrow. There are two young lords from far away coming to visit the consul. Those are the clothes you were wearing when we found you." Serina motioned to some folded clothes beside the mat Riku was lying on. He was wearing clothing that he guessed was normal for the people he was with. "We washed them for you while you were unconscious." She then got up and left the tent. Riku sighed and quickly changed.

He then went outside. He was in a village. There were cockatrices in a pen, a large, black stone and various tents scattered around. Serina looked over at him. "I take it you don't remember anything about that mark on your forehead?" She asked, pointing to the Heartless symbol on his brow. Riku touched it and shook his head. "Rest for today. Tomorrow we'll go into Rabanastre." He nodded.

Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. Riku hoped that someone in the town would recognise him. He pulled his clothes on and left the tent. Some of the other villagers were getting ready to leave as well.

"We have to leave early." Serina explained to him. "They close the gates at a certain time for large events."

Once the group was ready, many had brought gifts for the visiting lords, they headed to the city. Their gifts were all examined before they were let through. Riku had nothing. He wasn't sure what would reflect his personality.

They were all led into the court yard, and sat on the stairs along either side. The stairs were soon filled with people.

It wasn't long before every Rabanastre official was in place. There were many guards, too. Soon the two lords stepped into the court yard. Both seemed to be sixteen, and could pass as twins; same eyes. One had spiky brown hair; the other had crown-spiked blond hair. The first one was wearing golden armour, a purple stripe down his left arm, a blue one down his right. His cape was gold, embroidered with silver. On his left side was a weird, giant key. The hand guard was gold, the shaft silver. The other had blue armour, with a sky blue cape and navy embroidery. He had two keys, a white one on his right, and a black one on his left. A fancy gold outline of a heart was on the brunette's forehead, some strange blue symbol on the blond's.

The two lords bowed before the officials, who all bowed in return.

"We are honoured with your presence today," commented one of the officials.

"We are honoured to be here in the royal city of Rabanastre," replied the brunette. The blond nodded in confirmation.

"If I do understand correctly there used to be three. Where's the third?"

The brunette shook his head. "That information is only given out on a need-to-know basis."

"Ah, I understand. Warriors such as yourselves cannot give your locations out freely without risking your lives."

"I just want to make one thing clear," the brunette stated, "no one, absolutely no one, is to call us lords. Anyone who does is to be brought to us. My name is Sora, this is Roxas. That is what we shall be known as, not as lords."

"Of course."

The officials seemed surprised, but didn't protest.

Whoever had gives gave them to the lords. A strange, blue humanoid lizard creature, a bangaa, Serina explained, offered to tour them around the city. The lords agreed without hesitation.

"That's Migelo. He owns Migelo's Sundries in town." Serina explained. "If you want to find out if anyone knows you, you go to the Sandsea. Tomaj, the owner, has a notice board that he can put your info up on. Let's head that way now." Riku nodded and the two headed for the bar. When they were inside, Serina talked with the owner, while Riku hung back. Tomaj took down the information she gave him, before putting it up on the notice board.

"Thank you, Tomaj."

"It's not a problem." He replied. "Let's just hope he's not a wanted criminal, for our sakes." She nodded. Riku's heart skipped a beat. What if he was a wanted criminal?

Serina led him back to the nomad village.

"There was something about those two… Sora and Roxas, they said their names were, I think. They seem so familiar to me…" Riku commented to her.

"Maybe you knew them." She suggested. "No doubt they'll see the notice at the Sandsea – no one visits Rabanastre and doesn't go there."

Hopefully, Riku thought.

* * *

"This is the tavern, the Sandsea, my lords."

"Please, friend, my name is Sora." Sora said to Migelo. "This is Roxas. We're no lords, just protectors." The two headed inside, followed by the blue bangaa.

"Ah, Sora and Roxas, I am honoured with your presence!" Tomaj exclaimed with a bow. Sora and Roxas returned it.

"It is an honour to come." Sora replied.

"Is there any way I could help you?"

"Is there anything you've heard of any dangers in the area at all?"

"Check the notice board, my friends, people post information on problems they have all the time." Tomaj explained. Sora nodded his thanks as he and Roxas walked over to it.

They looked through almost all the notices on there...

But they missed the one about Riku.


	3. To the Village, a discouraging Runecast

Author's notes: Here is chapter three for you all! I'm trying to make this suspenseful, because I know that I normally just rush through things; originally at the end of chapter 2 I had Sora and Roxas seeing Riku's notice, but Rahsax (readers of Orgy Mishaps will recognise her) asked what the point in the fic was, so I changed it. I'll try not to make it _too _suspenseful, though. (winks)

Also, there is a bit of Runecasting in this, which is pretty much fortune telling. If you are a good Runecaster, please do not criticize the cast mentioned in this. I'm just a… trainee Runecaster, I guess you could say, so it may not be a hundred percent accurate. Thank you.

**Missed**

Riku was up early the next day. He wanted to head out with the men of the village, who hunted, gathered food and defended the village from dawn till dusk. He didn't want to be treated like royalty when he didn't even know who he was, nor had he helped the village at all. He thought it would be unfair to them that they had rescued him while he was unconscious and him not do anything in return.

"Can you fight?" He was asked by the man he guessed to be the leader.

"I don't know."

"Give 'im a sword, we'll soon find out." He man said. Riku was tossed a random sword before the group set out.

* * *

"Here, Migelo." Sora passed the Bangaa a large pouch of gil; the currency of this world. The bangaa's eyes widened at the sight.

"My lord-"

"My name is Sora." Sora interrupted him.

"Sora, of course, are you sure this is okay?"

Sora laughed. "Would I have given it to you if I thought otherwise? You have been very kind to us, and I feel I need to repay you. Consider it a gift between friends."

"Ah, of course. Thank you." Migelo lowered his head slightly. "Would you still like to visit the nomad village on the plains?"

"If you do not mind." Sora replied.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE YOU TWERP!"

"Uh-oh." Sora glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Roxas dart past him, chasing a blond haired boy about their age.

"Catch me if you can!" The boy taunted. Sora growled, before darting forwards. He called the Kingdom Key to his hand from where it was on his belt, and used a Blizzard spell to freeze the boy's foot to the stone path. He grunted in surprise.

"Give me back my wallet." Roxas growled.

"Vaan! What has gotten into you, boy?" Migelo demanded. Vaan scratched his head sheepishly.

"Hello, Migelo… Penelo, too…"

"Vaan!" A girl Vaan's age, her blond hair in pig tails, stormed over. "I told you not to steal from them!"

"Calm down." Sora glared. "The only problem here is that he stole, not who he stole from." He snatched his Nobody's munny pouch, which was full of Gil instead of Munny, and handed it to Roxas. Roxas took it and pulled out some coins, before handing them to Vaan, who was in complete shock. The ice melted and he pulled his foot free.

"Th-thank you?" Vaan stuttered. Roxas smirked, before turning to the girl, Penelo, and handing her some Gil as well. Her mouth hung open, the shock evident in her eyes. He laughed.

"Your welcome." He waved, before turning back to Sora.

"This is going in my airship savings!" Vaan exclaimed. Roxas couldn't help but laugh. Sora smiled, before looking at Migelo.

"Are we ready?"

"Oh, of course!" Migelo nodded.

The group headed out to the Giza Plains, and to the nomad village. The nomads all greeted them kindly. Roxas was watching a young girl draw something in the sand, and waved Sora over. The brunette complied.

The girl had drawn the Heartless symbol.

Sora dragged Roxas off to the side. "Heartless, here?" He questioned quietly.

"Maybe they're just out on the plains." Roxas suggested.

"Yeah, but they could get to the town. We have to check it out."

Roxas turned to the girl.

"Where did you see that symbol?" He asked.

"Serina showed it to me." She replied.

"Where is Serina?"

"Resting, she was up all night with the cockatrices, and the memory less man was screaming all night."

"We'll be in the village for awhile; could you take us to her when she wakes?" Neither of the two thought twice about the comment regarding the 'memory less man', and decided that it was one of the village people who had suffered in an accident or something.

"Of course!" The girl nodded. "I'll get you when she does."

Sora and Roxas nodded their thanks, before continuing to look through the village. Roxas was nearly chased out of the village when he provoked a cockatrice. Sora laughed at him, shaking his head. Eventually the Keyblade Master used a magnaga spell to hold the bird in place, before returning it to the pen.

A couple hours later, at dusk, the girl from earlier walked up to Sora and Roxas, a woman with brown hair following her.

"Are you Serina?" Sora asked. She nodded.

"Yes, what is the problem?"

Sora drew the Heartless symbol in the dirt. "Where have you seen this before?"

"Oh, that was on-"

"OI SERINA!"

"What is it?" She looked up.

"I think the newbie bit off more than he could chew, he hasn't returned with the hunting party," called the boy who had yelled out in the first place. Serina let out a curse.

"I'll have to tell you later." She said before running over to the returning group. Sora sighed.

"NO answers. Why do I never get any answers?" He muttered. Roxas shook his head.

"I don't know." He shrugged.

Serina returned a little while later. "Sorry, I had to help out one of the villagers." She apologized. "What was it that you wanted to know?"

Sora pointed to the Heartless symbol he had drawn again. "Where have you seen this before?" He repeated. She drew an 'x' over her forehead as she spoke.

"On his forehead."

"Who's forehead?" Sora asked anxiously.

"One of the villagers, he painted that symbol on his forehead." She explained. Sora's excitement died down. It could've been someone who had seen a Heartless somewhere and decided that the mark would make a good tattoo.

"Oh. Thanks." He walked away. Roxas sighed, following.

"Sora, he's dead. We accepted that the day we found the wristband."

"I know." Sora whispered, a tear rolling down his face. "I know."

They returned to Rabanastre just five minutes before the search party returned with Riku in tow.

"You missed it, Riku! The lords came by earlier!" Serina told him. Riku sighed.

"Just my luck." He mumbled.

"Go get some dinner. You can't change the past."

Riku complied without objection. Afterwards he wandered through the village. A teenaged girl, appearing to be about fourteen, was sitting at a somewhat large, rounded stone, with a flat tope. A white velvet cloth was laid out in front of her, and she had a hessian pouch in her lap. She glanced up at him.

"Oh, hello, Riku." She smiled. Riku had seen her around the village before, he knew.

"Hello… err… Serula?"

"I'm surprised you remembered."

"Well, there aren't many other memories to block it out." Riku replied. She laughed and nodded. "What's in the pouch?" He asked.

"Runestones." She replied. "They're a version of fortune-telling. Ask a question and I can tell you a basic answer. I'm afraid that I'm a bit new to this, though. Three-Rune casts are my best at the moment." Riku bit his lip.

"Will I ever regain my memories?"

Serula poured the Runestones onto the velvet, and flipped them so they were face down. She mixed them up, then picked three and set them to the side in order. She placed the others back in the pouch. She placed the three in order in the middle of the cloth, and turned them face-up, revealing the symbols on them. She bit her lip as she studied them. She tapped the first one, which was blank.

"This is peculiar. Wyrd."

"What does it mean?"

"Fate."

Silence followed.

"You cannot escape it, whether good or bad." She then tapped the next one, which looked like a triangle with the top half of the two upwards points opened outwards. The opening was facing left. "Peorth. You have dark secrets that will be revealed. It won't be any pleasant for you at all, Riku." She warned, then pointed to the last one, which was an arrow pointed downwards. "Tir. You'll be weakened by this knowledge… you'll lack motivation… think that the world should be handed to you on a silver platter… when this'll occur I'm unsure, but it won't be long after your memories return, and I don't know the consequences… be careful, Riku." She paused. "You'll regain your memories, eventually, but…"

Riku sighed. "Great."

The sarcasm was so thick you could taste it.

He wasn't sure if he wanted his memories back now.


	4. Very short investigation, Memories

Author's notes: Chapter 4 is here! I've got a poll up on my profile regarding this series, too. It'll decide what order I do the side stories (Leera and Leran's story, Sam's story, Rachael's story, etcetera.)

There's some radio chatter in this, so I've got a bit of a code here for you

Normal font is Sora.

_Plain italics are Roxas. _

_**Bold italics are Sora and Riku's father. **_

_Underlined italics are Namine._

Oh, there's a bit of an Elmer Fudd joke in here, too.

**Missed**

Riku woke the next morning to find Serina knelt over him.

"What's up?"

"You're staying in the camp today."

"Why?"

"Sit up." She ordered him. Riku complied slowly. She placed her forefingers on Riku's temples. "Look into my eyes. I'm going to place you in a trance, and try to restore your memories, okay?" Riku nodded slowly. "Now," she leaned back and moved her finger from side to side. "Watch my finger." After awhile, Riku seemed to be sitting there, not blinking. "Now, try and think about your past; Friends, family, career, schooling, anything." Riku didn't respond for awhile, before;

"Nothing." He answered, and looked down, finally blinking. Serina sighed.

"We'll try again tomorrow." She said before standing and leaving the tent. Riku sighed and hugged his knees. A little while later, Serina rushed back in.

"Riku! The lords are here again, and they want to meet you!"

"Me, why?" Riku asked.

"Something about the mark on your forehead." She explained. "Come on." She left the tent. Riku got up and followed her.

* * *

"Sora, what's the point in this? He's dead." Roxas sighed. He leaned against the fence and watched Sora stroke a cockatrice's neck.

"I know but, if this person is associated with the Heartless, we have to do something." Sora replied. Roxas nodded. That made sense, he guessed.

"My lor- Sora, Roxas." Serina quickly corrected herself. Sora and Roxas turned to look at her. She had brought someone with her, and both people bowed. Sora darted over to the second person and yanked on his hair.

"Riku, what the HELL are you doing bowing to me?!"

"Don't hurt me… please…" Riku whimpered. "Owowowowowowow…"

"Don't bow to me, then!" Sora replied. Roxas walked over and pried Sora's hands out of Riku's hair.

"Sora, you are the Keyblader of Light, you aren't supposed to get angry easily. You're supposed to be all 'hey, lookit the little pink fluffy bunny! Isn't it cute?' Riku is the Keyblader of Darkness. He's supposed to be all 'hey! Look at that awesome ravenous blood-thirsty wolf! It looks cool!' I am the Keyblader of the Twilight. I am between the fluffy pink bunnies, and the ravenous, blood-thirsty wolves. Anyone else see something wrong with this picture?" He paused for a moment. "Oh great. Pink, blood-thirst wabbits in Twilight Town."

Riku had stepped back, his hands gripping onto his upper arms. Serina glanced at him.

"Excuse me, my lords, I mean, Sora and Roxas,"

They both looked over at Serina.

"Yeah?" Sora asked.

"Riku here has no recollection of his past. He can't remember anything but his own name."

Sora's heartstrings twanged.

"R-Riku…" Sora fell to his knees. Riku felt a pang of sympathy for him.

"Sora… who am I?"

"You're my brother, Riku!" Sora exclaimed. Riku's heart skipped a beat. He walked towards Sora and crouched down in front of him.

"Sora…"

Sora grabbed Riku's shoulders. "I thought you were dead! I thought I lost you in Warfang…"

Riku could see the tears in Sora's eyes. One rolled down his face. Sora suddenly hugged Riku.

"I thought Malefor got you or, or the Light forces killed you." He choked. Riku stroked his hair, stuck in a very awkward situation.

"Sora, I'll call your father." Roxas said, before walking off.

Sora finally released Riku. "Sorry, you probably think I'm crazy."

"No." Riku shook his head. "No it's fine… I just wish I could remember you…"

"_**SORA!" **_

"Oops!" Sora grabbed his radio. "Yes father?"

"_**Is Riku really there with you?" **_

"Yeah, I'm here." Riku rolled his eyes. "Who're you?"

"_He can't remember anything." _Roxas's voice emitted from the radio.

"_**I can tell. Want me to get Namine and let you talk to her?" **_

"She separated from Kairi?"

"_**Rachael separated them shortly after you and Roxas left for Rabanastre." **_

"_Cool. Sure, put her on. With how many times she's screwed with mine and Sora's memories surely she'll know something." _

"I'm not gunna ask."

"_Long story." _

"_Roxas? Sora?"_

"Hey Namine."

"_Hey, Nam." _

"_What's going on there that's so important you want to talk to me?" _

"_Riku's lost his memories." _

"He can't remember anything from Warfang back except his name."

"_Natural memory loss is harder to reverse than unnatural memory loss. The chains have all been broken and scattered as far apart in the heart as they can be." _

"_Doesn't unnatural memory loss literally break the heart?" _

"_Correct, Roxas." _

"_Yeah… 'cuz Axel said something about you using it to stop Vexen's Repliku thing or something in Castle Oblivion… Good riddance, I reckon." _

"_I'll tell the story later." _A pause. _"No guarantees, though." _

"_Awww…" _

"_**Can we maybe get back on subject here?"**_

"Alright, so Riku's lost his memory and we need some way to fix it." Sora summarized.

"_If you want I could come by and have a look at him." _

"If you don't mind."

"_Not at all. See you in five." _

Sora put the radio away.

"What's about Namine that can help me?" Riku asked him.

"She's known as the Memory Witch. She can alter people's memories." Sora explained. Riku nodded slowly. Roxas returned with Namine in tow.

"Hey, Namine!" Sora waved. She smiled and looked at Riku. Her sketchpad and pencils were in hand.

"Do you have a tent we could do this in?" She asked. "It's going to take awhile."

"Use Riku's." Serina suggested. Namine nodded. Riku got up and let the others to his tent.

Once inside, Riku sat on the mat he used as a bed. Sora and Roxas sat by the door, and Namine knelt in front of Riku, opening her sketchpad to a new page and pulling out her pencils as she began to draw. Namine paused.

"His memories are so far apart it would be easier to copy them as new memories and leave the old ones to fade in his heart." She commented. "But false memories aren't as valuable as the real thing…" She then went back to drawing. Roxas looked at the picture over her shoulder. He could make out him, standing on the beach, Riku sitting at the top of a coconut tree… he laughed in memory.

"More people are killed by falling coconuts than sharks." He remembered. Namine nodded.

"This is just a bit of a test to see if my theory works." She explained. "Don't ask; you wouldn't understand it. It involves breaking the disconnected chains and reforming them." She looked up when she heard a laugh come from Riku.

"Did that really happen?" He asked. "The thing with the coconuts?" Namine nodded and smiled.

"I wish I had known how to do that when fixing Sora's memories. It wouldn't have taken half as long." She commented.

"Now this is one instance I have no clue what you're talking about."

"Let's say the three of us all have slight memory loss and leave it at that." Roxas patted his Somebody's head. Sora swatted at his hand like it was a fly. Riku smiled at them, sighing. He remembered sparring with Sora and Roxas… Sora collapsed and he caught him… told him to go lay down… sparred with Roxas unsuccessfully, then threw coconuts at him… and that was it. Namine smiled apologetically.

"It'll take time, but it'll work." She promised him, and then looked at Sora. "I'm worried though, what'll happen when he remembers Xehanort…" Enough said. Sora bit his lip. Too hard. He tasted blood, but ignored it.

"He needs to know. It's what made him the Keyblader of Darkness."

Namine nodded.

Screams from the village got the group's attention. They all darted out of the tent.

"Heartless!" Sora exclaimed, calling Kingdom Key from its place on his belt. Roxas called Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Namine stepped back into the tent. Sora tossed Riku a black wristband with a purple amethyst on it. "No time like now to remember." He commented. Riku put the wristband on, and armour like Sora and Roxas's spread across his body.

It was black, and his cape was purple. The edges, at first glance, appeared to be frayed, but were stitched to look that way. On his left hip, attached to his sword belt Soul Eater resided. He put a hand on the hilt, but it didn't budge. He blinked in confusion. How was he supposed to call it like they did? He lowered his hand, and let out an exclamation in surprise when Soul Eater transferred to his hand. Sora and Roxas were already fighting the creatures that had attacked. Riku darted forwards to join them, his muscles and reflexes doing the fighting for him as memories flooded his mind.

_A skyscraper. _

_A black-haired girl in a black cloak. _

_Ansem._

_Xehanort_

_Keyblades. _

_A bent over tree. _

_A star-shaped fruit. _

_Heartless. _

_Heartless. _

_More Heartless. _

_A room with white walls. _

_The Riku Replica. _

_DiZ._

_Twilight Town. _

_The Princesses of Heart. _

_Maleficent. _

_Organization XIII. _

_King Mickey. _

_Kairi._

More and more memories flooded Riku's mind, until he found himself unable to fight. He collapsed to his hands and knees. His armour retracted and his Keyblade disappeared. He clutched his head. He was aware of people around him, but couldn't think of anything but the pain. All the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, feelings and emotions all flooded into him. He couldn't help it. He screamed.

* * *

Sora shook Riku again, trying to wake him up. "Namine, what's going on?" He demanded.

"The memories are all flooding together all at once." Namine replied, hands clasped over her mouth in shock. "I can't stop them."

Sora could only watch Riku writhing on the ground in pain. No one was quite sure how long he sat there for, until they finally decided to move the elder brother into the tent.

"MAKE IT STOP!" Riku shrieked. Sora looked at Namine desperately, but she shook her head.

"There's nothing I can do, Sora."

"Damn it." Sora sat down. He let his armour retract – he didn't need it right now. Namine gave him a sad smile, before leaving. Roxas patted his Somebody's shoulder before leaving the tent, too.

Sora looked over at Riku, and hugged his knees. He wouldn't leave his brother's side, he promised himself, not until he recovered.

* * *

"_This is Roxas, over." _Roxas called into the radio. You could still hear Riku screaming, even though Roxas was on the outskirts of the village.

"_**I hear yah. What's up?" **_

"_Something's happened with Riku's memories. According to Namine they are all flooding together at the same time, and he's currently in a lot of pain." _

"…_**That what the screaming is, then?" **_

"_Yeah." _

"_**I'll talk to you later then, Roxas. Keep me posted." **_

"_Will do. Out." _Roxas put the radio away and stretched. He knew the village was going to have a few sleepless nights. No doubt about that.


	5. Remembering and Searching

Author's notes: Next chapter! If you didn't read Abused, then I go into a bit better detail for the appearance of Sora and Riku's family. Also, if you did read Abused, remember that Rachael was ten when it started, Abused stretched over the time of about a year, and then this is a few months later, so she's about twelve. Sam's a bit older than the last one, around twenty-twoish (she came in towards the end, remember, when Riku was trying to find Roxas to save Sora.)

Also, those who didn't read Abused, this is the family relation;

Sora and Riku are brothers (they discovered that while reading their mother's diary)

Sam is their older sister (she's known all along but promised to keep it secret)

Rachael is Riku's younger sister and Sora's half-sister (different mother)

And then the nameless guy with silver hair is their father. (nods) He has a name I just can't remember it.

There's also Sara, but I don't think she's mentioned. She's Sora's younger sister and Riku's half sister (different fathers). She dun like Riku very much. He gives her headaches. (That'll be explained somewhere in the series.)

**Missed**

Roxas groaned, rubbing his temples. Five. Days. Five. Fucking. Days.

Riku could still he heard screaming in the background. It was a wonder his voice still worked. The villagers all had headaches, but no one said anything about it. Except the Cockatrices, but who cares what the dumb birds think?

"I swear, if he does not shut up I am going to cut his voice box out of his throat!" Roxas exclaimed. He was sitting on the top of the large black rock that was in the village. Many of the nomads looked up at him briefly, before going back to their work. Roxas spotted a portal opening in the village, and watched curiously. Namine stepped out first. She had returned to the islands for some shut eye. _Lucky._ Behind her were Sam, Rachael and Sora and Riku's father. Roxas jumped down from the rock and walked over to them.

"He does not shut up." Roxas complained to them. He glanced at the twelve year old, silver-haired girl. She smiled at him. "Hey, Rachael."

"Hello, Roxas."

"When was the last time I saw you, again?" He raised an eyebrow. She looked a lot older than when he had last seen her. She was wearing navy blue cargo pants and a sky blue tank-top with army boots that she probably got Sam to buy her.

"The mission to Hyrule."

"Ah."

Six months. That explained it. Why hadn't he seen her? There was school, training and missions. Rachael had gone with them to Hyrule, he remembered, because of something about being able to speak Ancient Hylian or something. Well, Vexen's experiments came in handy sometimes, didn't they? (To be explained in Rachael's side story)

"How's Riku?"

Roxas glanced up at the woman in her early twenties. Her hair was a silvery brown color, and her eyes matched her mother's, as did Riku's. Her clothing consisted of army boots, leather pants and a leather shirt. She must've just gotten off her motorcycle her father had bought her for her birthday, he realised.

"Well…" Roxas scratched at his ear, "he probably has a bit of a sore throat… his tent's that one." He pointed to the tent Riku was in. "Sora's there, too. He hasn't eaten for five days so he's probably not in a very good condition." Sam nodded and headed off towards the tent. Rachael looked up at her father, a man with short, silver hair and blue eyes.

"Father, can I go look at the town?"

"Just don't get lost." He replied. Rachael laughed and ran off towards Rabanastre.

* * *

His throat hurt. That was the first thing his mind registered.

The second was that he remembered.

He remembered _everything_.

Riku felt so weak. He wasn't sure how long it had been since the memories began to come back, but it had to be awhile. His body was protesting every movement, and his stomach hurt. He was hungry, really hungry. He had never really gone too long without food, except…

He trembled.

No.

He did NOT want to remember that. The abuse he and Rachael had endured…

Riku weakly cracked an eye open and forced himself to sit up, ignoring the protests his body had put up. He looked over at Sora, sprawled out in the corner, asleep. It was quiet, he noticed, and a night chill was in the air. He strained his ears. There were faint sounds of people eating, and he was reminded of how hungry he was.

Riku tried to stand, but collapsed again, knocking a vase over (luckily it didn't shatter). This woke up the brunette in the corner.

"Riku!" Sora darted over. "You're awake!"

"Hey." Riku smiled. His voice was coarse – probably from all the screaming – and it hurt his throat to speak. Sora glanced up, listening.

"You hungry?"

Riku nodded; he didn't want to speak anymore.

"I'll go get us some dinner." Sora got up and stumbled out of the tent.

"Idiot." Riku shook his head.

When Sora returned, someone tagged along with him.

Sam promptly wrapped her arms around Riku, nearly squeezing the life out of him. He looked at Sora for help, but his brother only laughed.

"S…Sam… c-can't… breathe…" Riku managed hoarsely. Sam quickly released him, and Riku gasped for air. Sora pushed a plate forwards. There was some chicken-like meat on it, and some berries that the hunters had probably gathered. Riku took the fork on the side of the plate and began eating.

"What is this, anyway?" Sora asked. Riku paused for a moment, chewing and trying to figure out the taste. Finally, he swallowed.

"Cockatrice, wild I think… tastes better than domesticated Cockatrice." He explained. Sora nodded.

The two quickly finished their meal, and Sam took their plates for them.

"Do you remember anything?" Sora asked after a bit of a silence. Riku glanced up, hugging his knees.

"Everything."

Sora nodded. "Try not to talk too much for tonight. Rest your voice. You've been screaming for five days straight."

Riku tensed and mouthed 'five days' as if he didn't believe it.

Sora stood and offered him a hand. Riku took it and was pulled to his feet. He swayed slightly, but Sora helped steady him. They left the tent and glanced around. Riku looked up at the star-lit night sky. The moon was full, giving off a pale silvery light. He smiled.

"Riku!"

Riku glanced over. His father was sitting on a log. The Keyblader of Darkness walked over and sat beside him.

"It's good to see you again." His father commented, putting an arm around Riku's shoulders.

"You too." Riku nodded.

"I want to know what happened in Warfang later."

"I don't know much… helped Spyro and Cynder destroy some siege towers, killed a small golem thing, went to scout the area and got hit by a canon." Riku summarized. "I was sent flying, landed at the top of a waterfall and fell."

"Throat sore?"

Riku nodded.

"I can tell from your voice."

Riku nodded again.

"Did Rachael come with you?" Riku asked. His father nodded.

"Yeah, she called us earlier. She got locked in Rabanastre, she'll use the time to explore Lowtown, she said. She'll be back in the morning."

Riku nodded, blinking a few times.

"Tired? I doubt you've really slept at all."

Riku nodded again.

"Go get some sleep."

Riku stood up and headed back to his tent. He lay down and closed his eyes, quickly falling asleep.

* * *

Riku sat up. His throat felt better, that was for sure. He got up and left the tent. It seemed to be about noon. Sora, Sam and their father all looked worried. "What's wrong?" Riku asked them.

"Rachael hasn't returned." Sam replied. Riku froze for a moment, before looking at Rabanastre and bolting in that direction. "Riku!" Sam sighed. Sora and Roxas, both who were in their normal clothing, looked at each other, before darting after Riku. Sam groaned. "I'll go."

"I'll stay in case she comes back." Her father nodded. Sam darted off after the Keybladers.

The three, by the time they ran through the gates, had all donned their armour. They charged through the streets, causing everyone to move out of the way. Riku was worried. What if something had happened to Rachael? He pushed the thought away. She had only been nine when the islands were destroyed, ten when she was captured by the Organization. Surely she'd be okay, wherever she was.

They continued to the palace, and Riku didn't bother getting permission to enter, simply saying 'stop me and I will kill you myself'.

Eventually they found one of the judges, recognised by his very intricate armour, and Riku stopped him.

"Who are you?" The judge demanded.

"Riku, the Keyblader of Darkness, Sora's older brother. I'm looking for my sister. She has silver hair and eyes like mine. She's only about twelve years old." Riku replied quickly.

The judge paused, thinking.

"Ah, yes. She was sentenced to Nalbina last night."

"What's Nalbina?"

"The prison in Ivalice."

"WHAT?!"

Sora, Roxas and Sam covered their ears. It was a wonder Riku could still yell at the top of his lungs like that.

Riku paced back and forth, and muttered various rants under his breath.

"Let's go." He turned and bolted out of the palace, Sora, Roxas and Sam following, leaving a stunned and rather confused judge behind.

Roxas grabbed a map, and quickly found Nalbina. He opened a portal for the group, who all darted through.

They ended up in a very dirty looking area, which was probably once the basement of a castle or something. The walls were either falling or fallen down, and the people were all in bad shape. Corpses seemed to be everywhere.

"Come on, we need to find Rache."

He could hear fighting nearby, so he headed in that direction. He found Rachael, covered in blood, with a dagger in her hand. She was holding the weapon above her head, looking ready to strike a lizard-like Bangaa with it.

"Rachael!" Riku called._ Oh god... that better not be her blood. _He prayed silently. She glanced over, then at the Bangaa, then darted over to her brother. He crouched down and wrapped his arms around her. The blood smeered on his armor, but it would be easy to clean off.

Rachael then pushed her brother away, with that 'oh god I'm gunna puke' expression, before coughing blood up onto the dirt stained floor. Riku swore he felt his heart skip a beat.


	6. Prophecies and Attempted Murder

**Missed**

Riku picked Rachael up gently and stood. He looked at Roxas. "Get us out of here." He ordered. Roxas nodded and opened a portal. The group hurried through it.

They stepped back out at the nomad village. Another cough escaped Rachael's throat, and more blood spilled over her lips. Her father darted over.

"My word… what happened to her?" He asked, gently rubbing the girl's back.

"She was sent to the filthiest prison imaginable." Riku replied, not sounding at all happy. "She's gotten some sort of internal injury, I think. She was fighting a Bangaa when we got there." He glanced around. "Serina!" She rushed over.

"What is it, Riku?" She asked.

"Rachael, she was sent off to Nalbina and she's coughing up blood…"

"Take her into the tent; I'll get a healer sent over." Serina assured him. Riku headed into his tent and laid Rachael down on the mat. Soon a familiar face entered, but it took Riku a moment, but he recognised the shoulder-length red hair and the eyes that looked _uncannily _like his own. Leera. She was about Sam's age, in her early twenties, and didn't seem to like Riku at all. Her clothing consisted of army boots, a black, sleeveless zip shirt that looked exactly like Riku's and black cargo pants with countless belts crossing over each other.

"Hello again, Riku." She said dully.

"Just help Rachael." Riku stepped back and sat down, hugging his knees. He watched her kneel beside Rachael and check the girl's vitals.

"This seem familiar, Rachael?" Leera asked softly.

"Nearly two years ago, wasn't it?" Rachael asked. Leera nodded.

"Yes, after me and Leran saved you from the Organization."

"Leran wields his sword like Riku does… and you fight like Roxas…"

Leera hummed.

"Why?"

"That is a story for when you're older." Leera told her. Rachael crossed her arms and frowned. She wasn't _that _young. Leera laughed at her. "I'll be back." She got up and left. Riku followed her, grabbed her arm and dragged her off to the side.

"I want to know why you hate me so much." He growled. A voice behind him that he couldn't recognise responded instead of Leera.

"Figure that out for yourself, Xehanort."

Riku glanced over his shoulder. A man the same age as Leera stood there, his hair and eyes matched her's, and his clothing consisted of boots, leather pants and a navy blue sleeve-less zip shirt.

"Xehanort?" Riku echoed. "What the hell?"

"_The demon shall rise_

_And the Princess, die._

_Their children will cry_

_To the Twilight skies_

_The Keyblades shall fall_

_And that will be all._"Leera recited. She walked past a stunned Riku. What the hell was that supposed to be? It sounded like a fraction of some song lyrics or something… obviously Leera had meant something by it.

* * *

Riku sighed, and glanced at the note book again. He had tried to decode the lyrics that Leera had recited earlier, with no result. To make matters worse, Sora had gotten a hold of the notes and wrote little comments. Riku replied, and then Sora found the notes again. Idiot. Riku picked the notebook up and looked at what had been written.

_Demon: ?Xehanort? (Nice comparison.) (Shut the fuck up, Sora.)_

_Princess: Literal or metaphorical? (Big words for a small mind.) (Yeah, your mind.)_

_Children: What princess would have kids with a demon? (Lots of princesses, Riku.) (GODDAMN IT, SORA. STOP READING MY NOTES!) _

_(By the way, you got question 37 on your math test wrong 'cause you wrote your notes incorrectly.) (I hate you.) _

_Twilight: Uhh... (ROXAS!) (Sora, shut up or Soul Eater will literally eat your soul.) (I'm scared...) _

_Keyblades: What do they have to do with all this? (Well...) (don't even think about it.)_

Riku closed the notebook and threw it off to the side again, then looked at the sleeping Rachael. He skin glistened with beads of sweat, and a damp cloth had been placed on her forehead. Riku gently placed a hand on the side of her face. She had a really bad fever, and Leera wasn't quite sure what was wrong besides that it was something involving the lungs. Riku pulled his hand away and sighed. Why couldn't they just take her home to a hospital?

Geez. What was it with their families and hospitals lately?

The silverette (although her hair was blood-stained in areas) girl stirred slightly, her eyes fluttering open.

"Hey, Rache," Riku smiled at her softly. "How're you feeling?" Rachael hummed weakly, before slowly sitting up, the cloth on her forehead falling into her lap. Riku pushed a metal bowl towards her. She grabbed it and coughed blood up into it. He smiled apologetically and ran his fingers through her hair gently, feeling the dried blood crack beneath his hand. Rachael groaned, grabbing a cloth and wiping her mouth off.

"Dizzy…" Rachael slumped forwards. Riku's arms were there to catch her, and he pulled her towards him.

"We need to get you to a hospital…" He muttered, lying her back down on the mat. He placed the cloth back on Rachael's forehead. "Don't move." He ordered, and got to his feet, before leaving the tent and wandering through the village.

It didn't take him long to find the man he was looking for.

"Father," Riku approached him. "Rachael needs to be taken to a hospital, soon. She might not survive otherwise."

"Riku, we can't."

"Why not?" Riku demanded. "Why can't we take Rachael to hospital?"

"Riku, we don't have the money."

"What do you mean?" Riku _shrieked_, a tone previously thought impossible for the teenaged male (except when his voice had broken several years before). "Me, Sora and Roxas are friggin' Keybladers! Sora could waltz in and _order _them to treat Rachael!"

"You know just as well as I do that he won't, and you know why we don't have the money."

"Fucking Darkness."

"Not how I would've phrased it but yes, they won't treat Rachael because of you."

"GODDAMN IT!"

Several villagers had to duck to avoid getting their heads taken off by the decent sized rock kicked in their direction by the more than pissed off Keyblader of Darkness.

"I am a Keyblader, WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MATTER THAT I COMMAND THE DARKNESS?"

"I think your Heartless stunt set them off."

Riku paused, trying to remember. It took him a moment before he figured out what his father was referring to.

Shortly after the ceremony naming him, Sora and Roxas the official members of the Keyblader Trio, Heartless had attacked the island again. While they were fending them off, a group attacked Sora's younger sister, Sara, while her back was turned. Riku only barked one word, 'halt,' and the creatures of Darkness stopped, looked at him and walked over to him, circling him as if asking for orders. Roxas had quickly compared it to controlling Nobodies.

And needless to say, word travels fast in the Destiny Isles.

Riku began to pace back and forth. "If Rachael dies because of this…"

"Riku, I trust Leera's abilities."

"I don't!" Riku replied. "Her and her brother called me Xehanort. They hate me with every fucking fibre of their being. What's to say they're not slowly killing Rachael to get at me? They don't even know what's wrong with her for Kingdom Hearts' sake!"

"Riku…" His father sighed. "Just give them a chance, please."

Riku sighed. "I guess so…"

* * *

Riku looked at the notes he had scribbled down again, sitting on a log in the village. He assumed that he had the first line correct… and he didn't like it.

_The demon shall rise_

Xehanort was the demon, living inside of Riku. If Riku was correct, Xehanort would manifest and take over.

He was reminded of the Runecast.

It wasn't going to be the memories bringing him down. It was Leera and her prophecies.

But the question was, how would she know?

Riku sighed, getting up and returning to the tent. Leera had left not long ago, and Rachael was asleep. Riku spotted a folded up piece of paper and unfolded it. He recognised Leera and Leran immediately, but they were about fifteen. There was also someone who looked like Roxas, but his clothing was different. There was also a girl with blue hair, and a teenaged man with brown hair. They appeared to be on a beach… no, the Destiny Isles. Riku flipped the photo over. Five names and a large caption had been written.

_Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Leera and Leran – Destiny Isles. _

_Finally, the onslaught of Unbirths has slowed down a bit. Ven decided to drop by the islands for a bit of R&R, and no one objected, actually, they seemed quite excited… although Terra never really shows anything but, well, nothing and anger... I'd hate to be Xehanort right now. Actually, I hate Xehanort right now. _

_Funny, that._

_It's weird, seeing home like this. It's so different… I saw my father and uncle, too…_

_I think Ven stole my knife… again. I'll have to get it back from him later._

_~Leera_

Riku felt a pang of remembrance. He had fallen asleep on the beach one night when he and Sora were kids, before Kairi had arrived on the islands, and awoke to find a knife stabbed into the sand in front of him.

Who the hell had missed point blank?

He kept asking himself that, but no answer provided.

"Leera…" Riku muttered.

_Note to self: Never, EVER allow self to be alone with Leera and/or Leran. EVER._

"What reason would she have to kill me, though?"

"Who has a reason to kill you?"

Riku glanced over at Sora, who was walking towards him.

"Remember that knife I found stabbed into the sand beside my head when we were kids?" Riku asked him.

"Yeah…" Sora nodded.

"I think Leera tried killing me… something stopped her. Something or someone."

"How do you figure that?"

Riku passed him the photo.

"That looks like…"

"Roxas, I know. I asked him already, and he has no clue who that guy is."

Sora flipped the photo over and read the caption.

"Weird." He commented, passing the photo back. "Although, Terra sounds a bit like you."

"Hey!" Riku exclaimed. Sora laughed, shaking his head as he walked off. Riku sighed, before getting up and walking towards the tent. Rachael was awake, sitting up. She was really pale now. Riku put a hand to her forehead. The fever had ceased, but she was cold to touch now.

"Rache…"

She looked up at him.

"Riku…" She began, "you almost look like you're about to cry…"

"I just don't know what's going on anymore, Rachael…"


	7. Riku, you DON'T inhale Heartless

Author's notes: There's a bit more Spyro (although it's post Dawn of the Dragon now) in this, but just this chapter.

OKAY GUYS! No one, NO ONE has voted in the poll on my profile as of when I checked it! Come on, guys! Someone please vote.

**Missed**

Riku wandered through Rabanastre, his father at his side. The two were trying to figure out how they could get a hospital to treat Rachael…

"I'm dead." Riku decided finally.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll leave this world and hide in another – Warfang, probably, and you will say I'm dead, thus meaning that Rachael is no longer associated with me and the hospital will treat her for their normal price." Riku explained. His father pondered it.

"That might work…"

"Mhm. And after Rachael is up to full health, Sora and Roxas will 'discover' that I am alive." Riku explained. His father nodded.

"That might just work…"

* * *

Sora bit his lip. "Does Rachael agree with it?" He asked. Riku shrugged.

"I'd rather her live and disagree than die."

"Fair enough." Sora shrugged. Roxas nodded.

"So, which world, again?" The Keyblader of Twilight asked.

"Warfang; I know Spyro and Cynder, but no one knows what I look like there. Thus, if anyone tried finding me there, it would be all but impossible."

Sora and Roxas nodded in understanding. Roxas then opened a portal for Riku.

"It'll take you to the Twilight Falls; you'll have to find your way from there." He told the older teen. Riku nodded.

"Tell Rachael goodbye for me." He said, before waving and leaving through the portal.

Riku stepped out onto the grass, and looked around at the twilit area. He walked over, slowly, to the water, and looked at his reflection. He was the black hatchling again, and the Heartless symbol was clear on his forehead. Riku glanced around, jumped up and flapped his wings a few times, getting airborne, before flying off.

He came to a village eventually, with humanoid cat-like creatures living in it. The sun was beginning to rise, he noticed, revealing a forested area and a valley. Riku descended, landing in the village. He folded his wings and glanced around.

"Hey, Spyro, wake up."

Riku knew that voice. He glanced over his shoulder. Spyro and Cynder were lying side-by-side, asleep, and Sparx was attempting, attempting being key, to wake them up. Riku chuckled, walking over.

"Well, fancy seeing you here." He commented. Sparx did a double take.

"Oh, well, if it isn't Houdini."

"Hey, it wasn't my fault your catapult hit me and knocked me out. When I woke up I could hardly remember my own name." Riku glared at Sparx.

"Well that's too bad… you seem just fine now."

"My brother found me and helped me." He looked at Spyro and Cynder again. "Let them be, they'll wake when they're ready." Sparx wasn't watching him, though.

"What are THOSE?"

Riku turned to see what Sparx was pointing at; Heartless, only Shadows and Neoshadows, but still Heartless.

"Heartless." Riku growled. "Might want to wake them up." He advised.

"That's what I was doing." Sparx commented dully as Riku darted forwards and bit one of the Neoshadows. Bad idea.

"Ah shit." He tried spit it out, but found it impossible to do. It had melted into a shadowy puddle in his mouth. Then he felt it slip down his windpipe. _Oh fuck no… _If it solidified inside of him, he was done for. He felt something build up in his throat, and his windpipe clogged. He coughed to clear it, and blood splattered onto the grass. It hadn't solidified, but it was doing some damage in his lungs. He paused.

_Rachael. _

Well, that was one answer he'd been searching for. No one was sure what was wrong with her, other than it was a problem with the lungs. She didn't have a collapsed or punctured lung, so it was the only logical explanation.

A flash of fire shot behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder to see Spyro, awake and closing his mouth, having burned a Shadow to death.

"Thanks." Riku nodded.

"Don't mention it." The purple hatchling glanced at the blood warily. "You okay?"

"I'll survive." Riku replied, lashing out with his tail at a stray Neoshadow. It faded as the arrowhead tip sliced through it. He glanced off to the side; Cynder was fighting a group of Neoshadows. "Don't use anything related to shadows; it won't do any good on them. They're Shadow and Neoshadow Heartless, so it goes without saying." He warned, before gagging, blood slipping past his teeth. "Ah, god…" He stumbled forwards dizzily. "Sora?" He waited a few moments. "Sora? Roxas?" No answer. His world began to spin. "Someone… answer me…" He collapsed and went out like a light.

"_Riku? RIKU!" _

* * *

Riku groaned. His world was blurred, and spinning a bit. He could see the head of an unfamiliar dragon hatchling, a golden one with white colored spikes. The silvery mark on its forehead seemed familiar, but Riku couldn't get a grip on reality to figure it out.

"Riku?" The hatchling asked.

"That's my name…" Riku replied, squinting. "…Sora?" He forced himself onto his feet. "My head…" He complained.

"Are you okay?" Sora asked. His response came in the form of Riku gagging, and blood splashing onto the grass, painting it red. "Riku! Holy hell, what's happened?"

"A Neoshadow; when I went to bite it, it turned into a puddle and slipped into my lungs. I think the same thing happened to Rachael in one of the worlds where we become animals; here, Pride Lands, some other world we don't know of." Riku explained. "It's not the best of feelings, having a Neoshadow in your lungs when you're trying to breathe."

"God, Riku, you really know how to get yourself into trouble."

"Runs in the family, I guess." Riku replied. Sora laughed.

"Guess it does." Riku's sentence silenced itself as blood clogged his windpipe. He coughed again, spitting the blood out of his mouth.

"_Sora, have you found Riku?" _

Riku quickly recognised Roxas's voice.

"Yeah," Sora replied, "he's in back shape, though."

"_I'll get your dad." _

"Thanks, Rox." Sora waited a few moments, before his father spoke over the radio.

"_**Sora? What's wrong with Riku?" **_

"I can speak-" Riku was cut off, gagging and coughing blood up.

"He's coughing up blood; there's a Neoshadow in his lungs." Sora explained.

"**_My gods." _**

"I think," Riku paused, spitting the remaining blood out of his mouth, "that there's a Neoshadow in Rachael's lungs, too. Ask her if she ever swallowed a Heartless." There was a pause, before his father spoke again.

"_**She confirmed it. Any clue on how to get rid of it?" **_

"Not one." Riku was wheezing now. Sora glanced at him.

"Riku, are you okay?"

"C…can't… breathe…" Riku barely managed to get out, before stumbling. Sora darted forwards, folding his wings over his spikes to keep them from stabbing Riku as he landed on his younger brother's back.

"Dad, Riku's passed out, he can't breathe."

"_**Goddamn it, Sora, get him back here now!" **_

"As soon as Roxas opens a portal for me I'll come running." He glanced around the village, the two hatchlings, the purple and the near-black one, were watching him, almost suspiciously. Sora's attention was diverted as a portal opened. He pushed Riku though it. "Roxas, once Riku's on the other side close the portal; I'm going to make friends with the locals. Get another world under our flag."

"_Good luck." _

"Same to you. Riku dies and you can join Axel and all his buddies in whatever Hell Nobodies go to."

Roxas laughed. _"Hey, I though we agreed, no bashing Axel."_

The portal closed.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks, Roxas, tell the hospital that they're under direct orders from the Keyblade Master to treat Riku. If they don't then they can expect to get their heads lopped off by a giant key."

"_I really can't see you following up on that one…" _

"Who said I was doing the dirty work?" Sora retorted. "Get Riku and Rachael treated; Sora out."

"_Understood. Roxas out." _

Sora sighed. "Well," he muttered, glancing at Cynder and Spyro, "got friends in every world I've been to, time to make some here."

_

* * *

_

Bee-beep. Bee-beep.

Bleach? _Why do I smell bleach? _

Riku forced himself to crack an eye open. Was he… in a glass case? An oxygen mask was positioned over his mouth and nose, and he could feel a heart rate monitor attached to his chest.

"They're scared of you."

The voice had been muffled by the glass, but Riku still recognised it as his older sister. He glanced over in her direction. She was sitting in a chair against the wall of the room. Riku nodded, unsure if she'd be able to hear him speak. A portal opened in the room, but Riku was unable to see who had stepped out of it. The Neoshadow in his lungs shifted about uncomfortably, causing Riku to cringe.

"Riku…"

Riku looked to his side. Sora was standing there with a hand pressed up against the glass. Riku raised his hand and pressed it against the glass.

"Hey," Riku smiled, which Sora returned, before looking at Sam.

"What's with the glass?" Riku heard him ask.

"It's something the hospital cowards did to keep the Heartless from escaping if it decides that it wants out. It won't work, though."

"I hope the Heartless doesn't want out." Sora commented. "It'll kill him."

"I know."

Riku's hand fell. He was all but on death row now. Sora noticed and glanced over at him.

"Hey, it won't." He tried to sound positive, but the worry was evident in his voice. Riku sighed and kicked at the glass case. It was going to drive him insane soon. Sora laughed at him, then glanced at the padlock, the only thing keeping it closed. "Idiots." He called the Kingdom Key and pointed it at the lock. It clattered to the ground with a bit of a sparkle, and then Sora pushed the top off the case. Riku was quick to sit up.

"Thanks…" He nodded. Sora laughed, before noticing that Riku had stopped moving for a moment, before yanking the mask off and coughing into his hands. Despite his effort, blood seeped through his fingers. Sora glanced at the heart rate monitor, which was beeping faster now, and shut it off. He gave a slight yank on the wires that connected to the patches on Riku, which gave out and fell to the floor. The Keyblader of Darkness was doubled over, on his knees, continuing to cough blood up. Sam was rapid-tapping the red button on the wall to request a doctor or someone to hurry over. Sora wrapped his arm around Riku's stomach and carefully pulled the elder brother out of the glass case and laid him on the floor.

More blood slipped between Riku's lips as he tried desperately to clear his continuously clogging windpipe. A sharp pain suddenly struck in his lungs. He tried to scream, but no air left his mouth, only blood. Sora noticed the pained expression on Riku's face, but had no time to react before the Neoshadow tore its way out of Riku's lungs…


	8. A Death and Attempted Revenge

Author's notes: Y'know, I have the first chapter of Leera and Leran's side story, 'Twilit War', finished? I'm just not posting it because it is spoiler-littered. It'll start when Leera and Leran are five.

**Missed**

_Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep_

"_T.o.D?" _

"_Time of death… three twenty four PM."_

Kairi looked at the clock again. It was approaching three thirty now…

"Any news?"

Sam shook her head. "I'm afraid not. They took Riku into the E.R. and Rachael into surgery two hours ago." She looked over at Sora, who was asleep in the corner. "We had to give him sleeping pills just to knock him out." Kairi hummed, and crossed her arms. She glanced up when a nurse entered and looked around with a solemn look on her face.

"Are you family of Rachael?"

"I'm her sister." Sam replied. "Our father should be back soon."

Sure enough, a couple minutes later her father stepped into the room.

"What's happened?" He asked the nurse. She took a deep breath.

"Rachael was taken into surgery two hours ago… the Heartless was destroyed successfully but I'm afraid that she did not survive." She paused, as if letting the news sink in. "I'm sorry. If there's anything we could do to help just let us know."

"Yeah, thanks…" Sam's father sighed, rubbing his temple. Sam's mouth was agape – Rachael, the girl who had left the islands at nine years of age and was kidnapped by Organization XIII at the age of then, was dead? _Dead._ Kairi was in shock. The next thought that came to her mind was _poor Riku._ He was going to be really upset when he found out, she knew. The nurse apologized again and left the room.

Half an hour later Riku was brought back into the room. He was still asleep, but at least he was alive. Having a Neoshadow tear itself from your lungs was not an easily survivable thing. Sora woke up soon after, and moved to sit at his brother's side after he was told about Rachael. Riku awoke at about four P.M. He groggily opened his eyes and glanced around.

"I'm… alive?"

"Don't sound so surprised." Sora smiled. Riku seemed to notice the half-hidden sadness in his eyes.

"What happened?" Riku glanced around at all of them. Sam bit her lip, and looked at her father.

"He needs to know…"

Riku looked around again. "What? What do I need to know?"

"We'll tell you later, after you've recovered a bit more." Sora replied. He didn't want Riku getting stressed out this soon after being sent to the E.R. Riku seemed suspicious, but didn't comment, relaxing slightly.

"What happened?" He asked finally.

"After the Neoshadow tore out of your lungs, Roxas killed it quickly while I tried to keep you from bleeding to death. The doctors rushed in and carted you off to the E.R, and that's all I know."

"Hmm…" Riku hummed, shifting positions slightly. He felt the skin around the stitches on his stomach pull slightly, and he relaxed again. "Any chance you have permission to use a cure spell or something on me?" Sora laughed and shook his head.

"Tomorrow, if you're lucky."

Riku laughed, and ruffled his younger brother's hair. Sora swatted at his hand and pushed it away. Kairi smiled at the brothers. But it wasn't long before Riku _had _to ask.

"How's Rachael?"

It quickly became dead silent in the room. He glanced around nervously, wanting to know what had happened. "Wh…what's wrong? What's happened?"

"Riku…" His father sighed and placed a hand on his oldest son's shoulder. "Riku, when they took you into the E.R, they also took Rachael into surgery to get the Neoshadow out of her lungs. The procedure was risky, we all knew that. Riku…" He bit his lip, trying to figure out how to word it. "Riku, Rachael died on the operating table. No matter how hard they tried, they were unable to revive her." Riku froze, his mouth ajar, eyes wide in shock.

"N-no..." He stuttered. "No! I don't believe you, I won't!"

"But it's the truth."

"No! Prove it to me!" Riku snapped, sitting fully upright. Sora and their father forced him to lie back down.

"I will, in time." His father then turned and left the room. Sam and Kairi followed. Riku turned his head away from Sora and closed his eyes. The Keyblade Master's best guess was that his brother was crying, just didn't want him to notice. Sora sat there in silence and waited for Riku to say something. When the Keyblader of Darkness finally looked back at Sora, his eyes showed no sign of him having been crying before. Riku sat up again and looked down. Sora moved to sit on the edge of the bed, beside his brother, and wrapped his arm around the silverette's shoulders.

"Rachael was my sister, too remember." Sora reminded him. Riku nodded. Sora slid off the bed and pulled out the Kingdom Key, and pointed it at the older Keyblader. "Curaga." Riku closed his eyes as he felt the healing spell wash over him, and the stitches vanish. He stood up and stretched, feeling as good as new, physically.

"Let's go… I need to get out of here." Riku said. Sora nodded, and the two left the hospital, avoiding any friends and family. Soon they were on the beach, at the docks. Riku jumped into his boat, and Sora got in with him. It wasn't long before they were at the island. They sat on the bent-over tree, and watched the waves. Riku calmed down visibly, Sora noticed. They both lay down, and looked up at the sky. It must've been about four thirty by now. They both found themselves drifting off to sleep.

* * *

"Ah, shut up already, Kaz!"

"You're no mouse yourself!"

Riku stirred and sat up. The sky was black and dotted with stars. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was in the forest on the island… with no idea how far in he was. He gulped and got to his feet.

"Sora!" He yelled. "Sor-ra!"

"I can help you find him."

Riku did a double-take. "B-but… you're dead!"

He was looking straight into Rachael's eyes.

"I'm a ghost, a spirit, a lost heart, whatever you want to call me." She replied.

"I am hallucinating. You're some figment of my imagination." Riku muttered, rubbing his eyes again. "No, I'm dreaming, yes, dreaming, and when I wake up I will be on the beach."

"You're not dreaming."

"That's what all dreams say." Riku rolled his eyes. "If I'm not dreaming, then I'm going insane."

"You're not insane, either."

"I'm sure hallucinations say _that _too."

She sighed, and then disappeared. Riku glanced around. Next order of business… finding Sor-

* * *

Sora groaned, and tried to move his hand to rub his forehead. One problem – it was tied to a large wooden platform, as were his other hand and his feet. He glanced around. The birds were watching him, almost accusingly.

"Lemme go!"

Sora recognized that voice – Riku. A moment later the teenager was pushed through the tree line into the small clearing, where he fell onto his hands and knees. His wrists were bound by a rope, and there was another around his neck. The woman with the other end of the rope in her hands was no stranger.

Leera.

"Let him go!" Sora snapped at her. Leera glanced up at him.

"Sorry, no can do." She yanked on the rope, and Riku let out a gurgling sound as his windpipe was blocked. He reached up and tried to pry the rope away from his neck, with limited success. Sora pulled at the ropes binding his hands and feet.

"Stop, you're hurting him!"

Leera didn't reply, before, suddenly, the rope slipped out of her hands and she stumbled backwards. "I… I can't… why can't I? It seems so simple in my mind…" She looked at Riku, who was limp on the ground, breathing heavily to fill his lungs. Leera turned and bolted away, not wanting to be around when the Keybladers got lose. Riku's radio materialized in his hand, much like his Keyblade would, and he tried to send a transmission through.

"R…Roxas?" He breathed.

"_Riku?" _

"Y-yeah…"

"_You okay? Everyone's freaking out." _

"I'm alive… if that qualifie-EE"

The rope suddenly tightened, yanking Riku's head back. Someone hiding in the darkness tied the rope to a tree branch. They stepped out of the tree line, their face obscured by a navy blue hood of a medieval cloak, and tied a rope around the one binding Riku's wrists, just in between them, and tied those to a branch above the one the rope tied around his neck was secured to. Once the figure was satisfied that the ropes were tight, he ran off. Riku had dropped the radio, and it was now several feet away from him. He grunted, trying to pull his wrists free, with no result. He looked over at Sora. The Keyblade Master's hands were tied together above his head, his ankles bound together as well.

"Where do you think we are?" Sora asked.

"Still on the island – I can smell the salt water." Riku replied, trying to shift positions so he wasn't lying down. He wasn't very successful, and ended up back on his side. "I wonder how long we'll be here for."

"They'll come looking for us." Sora replied. Riku hummed.

"When?"

Sora didn't respond.

Eventually, somehow, the two found themselves falling asleep.

Riku was awoken by a rough kick, and his eyes shot open. Leera was standing over him, something glinting in her hands. It took him a moment to realize that it was a syringe, and that was not registered as good. She gripped his arm, tightly, and stuck it in his arm with out a word. Almost instantly Riku felt his world began to spin. Suddenly, the needle was pulled out and Leera ran off. Sora was desperately calling his name, and pulling at the restraints, but to no avail.

After awhile, Sora's voice became coarse and he stopped. He watched his drugged older brother, until he heard several sets of footsteps dart into the opposite side of the clearing, so he turned his head in that direction. Sam was already sawing at the ropes binding his hands with her pocket knife. Their father untied Riku quickly, and Roxas circled the edge of the clearing, looking for anyone suspicious. Kairi and Namine stood away from the edge, but away from the goings on. Sora was now cut loose, and he darted over to Riku and gently shook him.

"Riku, Riku!" He called, getting no response. Riku's pupils were dilated, clouded over. Sora's father put a hand on his shoulder.

"We'll deal with it later – let's just get home."

Sora nodded.

"Roxas!" His father called to his Nobody, who looked over. "Time to go." Roxas nodded, and a portal opened in the center of the clearing. Sora lifted Riku into his arms, but, when he was about to stand, two leopards, a brown one and a snow leopard, darted in front of the portal, snarling. Everyone tensed. Sora's father looked at their eyes. It was… peculiar, he noticed. The snow leopard's eyes matched Riku's, and the brown leopard's eyes matched Roxas's and Sora's. He tried desperately to remember names, to no avail. Namine closed her eyes.

"Leera, Kazuya, move." She spoke. The leopards looked at her, then at each other. "You cannot kill him, because it would destroy you in the process. It's quite simple, actually."

"Namine," Sora looked over, "who is Leera, anyway?" She'd been following them for awhile – he wanted an answer. The snow leopard snarled warningly at the Memory Witch. Namine bit her lip, frightened by the unspoken threat.

_You tell them and I will kill you here and now._

"Move or I will tell them." Namine said, blocking out her fear. The leopards looked at each other, than snarled as they reluctantly moved aside. Sora picked Riku back up – having set him down while Namine was talking to the leopards, and was the first to leave. Kairi and Namine followed him, then Sora and Riku's father, and then Roxas and Sam. The leopards ran off as the portal closed.

* * *

Sora laid Riku down on the couch, and put a hand on his forehead. The older brother had a slight fever, he noticed. He glanced at the others as they stepped into the room. "Namine, what did she use on him?"

"Nothing too potent, it'll wear off in a day or two. It's supposed to be a warning to us." Namine replied.

"Namine," Sora's father spoke, "I think it's time we found out who Leera is."

Namine took a deep breath. "I'm not telling you this…"


	9. Mysterious Lyrics Bring Anger

Author's notes: SORRY RAHSSIE! DON'T STRANGLE ME LIKE IN SCIENCE CLASS! (That was funny… and the teacher was looking right at us!)

Alright, guys, this is the last chapter. Yes, it's a cliffy for the next story in the series, Rejected. Oh, guess what? They come to Earth in it.

ALSO! I'm going to be posting a bit of a cheat on my DA account, the complete song mentioned in this (in Al Bhed and English) so you might want to have a crack at figuring it out. (My DA username is Axrat).

AND! If you don't mind spoilers, then you can go there to find the first three chapters of Leera and Leran's side-story already posted.

**Missed**

"…Leera is Riku's daughter."

There was a split second of silence, before everyone spoke all at once.

"WHAT?"

"But Leera's older than Riku…" Sora commented.

"She traveled back in time, and arrived ten years in the past. Her brother, Leran, also came with her." Namine explained. Kairi tapped her shoulder, and extended a hand, which Namine took. Sora knew what they were doing – sharing memories. He and Roxas had not yet perfected it, but if their skin was touching, they could share memories between each other. After awhile, Kairi pulled her hand away, a guilty look on her face.

"N… not possible…"

"That's only the fraction that I saw, Kairi." Namine put a hand on her Somebody's shoulder. "Who knows what else has happened to them." Kairi bit her lip.

"There's something strange about that Leera girl…"

Everyone's attention was turned to the brunette girl in the doorway. She was about twelve or thirteen, with sapphire eyes, like Sora's.

"Sara!" Sora exclaimed. He had instantly recognized his younger sister, Sara. He hadn't seen her for ages… The girl rubbed her temples, as if she had a really bad headache.

"Hello. Anyway, what I was saying is, you know how the hearts of the Twilit are usually half light and half dark?" Sara asked. Everyone nodded. "With Leera, there is no Light, and there is no Dark. It's all Twilight. No white and no black, all grey…"

"There are Princesses of the Light…" Sora's father muttered, "the Dark always mirrors the Light… the Twilight has elements of both… so that would mean…"

"There are Princesses of the Dark and the Twilight as well…" Sora muttered. "And if Leera is pure Twilight…"

"That would make her a Princess of the Twilight…"

"And if Riku is her father…"

"Who would that make her mother?"

Kairi looked away, almost ashamedly, but Sora didn't seem to notice. His father did, though, and gave her a warning glare. Sara spoke up and broke the silence.

"I'm going to leave. These extremes of Light and Dark are killing my head." She turned and left the house again. Sora blinked in confusion, and looked at his father for the answer.

"She can sense Light and Darkness, but because she is of the Twilight, extremes of either of the two sides give her headaches." He explained. Sora nodded, finally understanding. So she couldn't be around anyone who was strong in either Light or Darkness without inflicting pain on herself, he'd have to remember that.

"So, Leera and Leran can't kill Riku without destroying themselves. That's good to know. We won't have to worry about them too much, then."

"Hopefully." Sam commented. Sora nodded.

"Hopefully." He agreed.

They tried not to think about it best they could. Sora spent most of his time trying to figure out what drug Leera used on Riku.

* * *

Sora glanced up. It was just past midnight, his clock read. He was laying on his bed, the bottom of the bunk beds he and Riku had been forced to share, since the house lacked rooms. Something tugged on one of his spikes of hair, and he glanced up.

"Riku?" Sora groaned, rubbing his eyes. The silverette smiled. "You're awake." Riku nodded. Sora forced himself to sit up, still rubbing his eyes. Riku slid down off the top bunk and sat beside his brother.

"What happened after Leera drugged me?" He asked quietly.

"Nothing really… she ran off, and shortly after Roxas and the others showed up and freed us." Sora replied. He couldn't, tell Riku who Leera was. "I was worried that she had poisoned you and that you were slowly dying…" Riku ran a hand through Sora's hair.

"I'm fine now, aren't I?"

"We've lost too much… I was scared that I would lose you, too."

"How much have we lost?"

"Hmmm…" _Maybe Roxas is starting to have an effect on me, _Sora thought. Roxas had lost a lot…

"Let's not think about it for now." Riku patted Sora's shoulder. The glass behind them shattered suddenly, and the two of then jumped up, calling their Keyblades in an instant. A large, black hawk was on the windowsill now, watching them with bright emerald eyes.

"Who are you?" Sora demanded. The hawk offered no response, except flicking a piece of paper off its leg, and then it flew off. The door behind them opened, and they glanced over their shoulder to see their father step in.

"You boys okay?" He asked, glancing at the window. Sora nodded.

"I'm fine."

"Shit… I'm not."

Sora looked over at Riku, clutching his left arm where a large, sharp shard of glass protruded out of it.

"Holy…" Sora's eyes widened.

"Don't touch it." Their father ordered. Riku rolled his eyes.

"Nah, I'm just going to rip it out of my arm."

He got a warning glare. "Sit."

Riku sat on the edge of the bed, and allowed his father to carefully try and pull the glass from his arm.

"GODDAMNIT, could you make it hurt any more?" Riku growled. Sora could only watch, waiting to cast Cura on Riku's arm. Finally, the glass was pulled from the teenager's arm, and almost instantly Sora stitched it up with magic.

"That the only damage?"

Riku nodded. "Yeah." He glanced over his shoulder and retrieved the piece of paper, carefully unrolling it. "It's in some foreign language…" He handed it to Sora, who took one look at it and shook his head, passing it off to his father.

"I don't recognize it, either."

"It's song lyrics, but it's only one verse."

Riku looked just beside his father; Rachael, again. _I'm going insane. _He thought. _Definitely insane. Either that or I'm dead and this is all some false life I get when I die. _

"It's in Al Bhed." Rachael added. Riku took the note back and looked it over.

_Vuin lremtnah vuikrd_

_Vuin lremtnah femm vymm_

_Ymuha eh dra hekrd_

_Dra tasuh lymmc uid_

_Y vekrd mekrdc ib_

_Dra cgeac duhekrd_

_Y bnehlacc crymm vymm_

_Y gehktus lummybca_

Riku bit his lip. "Anyone speak Al Bhed?"

"I do." Rachael answered. Riku ignored her.

"How do you know it's Al Bhed?" Sora asked.

"I saw it in Radiant Garden once, I think…"

"We'll call in the morning." His father interrupted. "You two will sleep in the living room until we get that window replaced." The teens nodded and left the room quickly. They headed down into the living room, neither able to sleep. They sat on the couch and stared at the blank television well… blankly. Sora ended up drifting to sleep before Riku, leaning against the older brother. Riku eventually slumped down to the couch and fell asleep.

* * *

"You look sleepy."

"Fuck off." Riku groaned.

"Did you realize that the blanket you are trying to use is your brother?" ( -gives Soku fans (LIKE RAHSSIE) a chance to picture that- )

"WHA?"

"OI-WCH!"

Riku looked at the brunette on the floor, rubbing his head as if he had hit it, hard.

"Sorry." Riku apologized sheepishly. Sora grumbled something, but Riku didn't understand it.

"Found someone who speaks Al Bhed." Their father changed subjects.

"Really? Who?" Sora looked up at him, having suddenly forgotten about his aching skull.

"Riku, don't freak out."

"Why?" Riku raised an eyebrow.

"The girl's name is spelt R-I-K-K-U."

"Let me guess… it's pronounced REE-koo."

"Yup."

Riku's face met his palm.

"Is she about… this tall?" Sora put one hand about a foot above the other.

"Think so."

"Ah. Radiant Garden's pixies, they gave me the Gullwing Keychain after making me think they were going to take all my items."

Riku chuckled. "Was it April first?"

"They didn't say 'April Fools' so I doubt it." Sora replied, giving him the 'bad pun' expression. Riku shook his head, smirking.

"Anyway, give Cid a call via radio." Their father said and walked off. Sora pulled his radio out.

"Cid, ya there?"

"_Well, decided to talk to me, didja?" _

"Yeah, yeah." Sora looked at Riku, who pulled the slip of paper with the song lyrics on it.

"_I'll get that squirt for you. Just a moment." _

After a couple of seconds, the voice of the blond pixie known as Rikku rang out over the radio.

"_Hello, it's your Friendly-Neighborhood-something-or-others translator Rikku here!" _

"Al Bhed to English?"

"_Comin' right up. Spell it out, because I doubt you can pronounce it correctly." _She sounded overly cheerful, and Riku snorted.

"V-U-I-N." Riku spoke, reading off the paper.

"_Fuooeen." _Rikku pronounced the word slowly._ "It means four." _

Riku continued to spell out the words in the song until they had all the lyrics.

"_Four children fought_

_Four children will fall_

_Alone in the night_

_The demon calls out_

_A fight lights up_

_The skies tonight_

_A princess shall fall_

_A kingdom collapse." _Rikku recited. _"Any clue on what it might mean?" _

"None." Riku replied.

"You can investigate it – might find some treasure that the collapsed kingdom mentioned had, maybe the princess's jewels." Sora suggested. "In exchange for the treasure, you have to tell us what it means."

"_Good plan! See ya!" _

"The pixies are treasure fanatics." Sora explained to Riku, putting the radio away. Riku nodded.

"Ah. Right… Four children… Leera and Leran might be two…"

"And that Kazuya kid Namine mentioned…" Sora added. Riku looked at him quizzically. "Don't ask me. Ask her." The elder brother nodded slowly, before looking at the bottom of the paper. _Drnaa. _

"What's 'drnaa'?" He asked.

"What?" Sora looked over. Riku pointed to the word. "It has the same amount of letters as the word three, and there are two 'a's at the end… so maybe it means three?" Riku hummed.

"Maybe it's the third verse…"

Both looked up when Namine stepped into the room.

"Four children, three of the keys and one of the princesses; Hannah, the master, Leran, the oldest, Kazuya, the sneak and Leera, the royalty." She recited. Sora and Riku blinked, not understanding what she meant. They didn't get a chance to ask her, because she walked out the front door.

"'Three of the keys,' Keybladers, maybe?" Riku suggested. Sora hummed. "'The master' might mean Keyblade Master… Leran is self-explanatory, as is Leera, Kazuya… who is he?"

"Who knows… probably a Keyblader who is fairly stealthy?"

"I figured that much." Riku rolled his eyes and sighed, before standing up. "I… I'm going for a walk. Clear my head out." Sora watched his brother leave the room, and heard the front door open and close again.

It was nine PM by the time Riku returned. The door slammed behind him.

"Riku, are you okay?" Sora looked up. Roxas raised his head from the movie they were watching.

"Do I look okay to you?" Riku snapped back.

"Riku, what's wrong?" His father stepped into the room.

"What do you think is wrong? Rachael is dead, DEAD. She is dead because I am the fucking Keyblader of Darkness! She is dead because of ME!" Riku snapped.

"Don't think that way…" Sora stood.

"Riku, don't!" Rachael was standing in the corner. Riku glared at her.

"You shut the fuck up." He said, pointing at her. "You are a figment of my fucking imagination, so shut the hell up."

_Someone's on a swear fest. _Sora thought as he slowly sat back down.

"You know what?" Soul Eater appeared in his hand and he threw it. Roxas looked up at where his head had been not a millisecond before, the Keyblade stuck into the wall above him. A portal opened behind Riku and he began to leave through it.

"I quit."


End file.
